CV Chicken Bowl

I will be featuring a kid friendly lunch recipe each week for the foreseeable future. Some of us are now lunch lady/man and coming up with easy ideas can be difficult.

I would start with asking your kids what their favorite lunches were at school and trying to recreate them. That is what I did here. My oldest took one bite and told me he was in heaven.

All ingredients are from Aldi except the corn was fresh. If you have not tried Aldi’s Red Bag Chicken I highly recommend. Cook it in a air fryer or raised off the baking sheet on a rack. Be sure to flip once during cooking process.

If you prefer time over cost savings use jarred gravy.

Two breaded chicken breasts or chicken nuggets cooked according to package. One breast per bowl as they are not huge.

Pre cooked mashed potatoes- use only half of the container if making two bowls. Microwave according to package.

1/2 cup of frozen or fresh corn- reheated

1/2 cup of gravy- jarred or made from scratch

Gravy- heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet once bubbling add a tablespoon of flour and whisk until mixed and slightly brown. Whisk in broth until the thickness you desire. Stir in S&P.

Place cooked mashed potatoes in the bottom of a bowl then top with a cut up chicken breast, half the corn, and gravy.

So easy and yummy!
I hope your kiddos enjoy this as much as mine.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan Tenders

As promised recipes to use up the homemade sauce I posted yesterday. You can use tenders or cutlets. This recipe uses no bread crumbs so it’s gluten free and low carb. I served it with a salad and garlic bread. My whole family agreed it’s one of my best meals.

This meal comes together in 15 minutes.

2lbs of chicken tenders or cutlets

1/4 cup EVOO

1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

S&P

Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Butter

Roasted tomato sauce- see 8/24 post or any jarred sauce you have

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Mix EVOO with Italian Seasoning and a little S&P

Put chicken in a bag or bowl and pour oil mixture over chicken and toss.

Put half of chicken in a non stick skillet or pot- if you don’t have one you can wrap your handle in foil.

Cook on medium to high for 2-3 minutes per side then top each chicken piece with sauce, both cheeses, and a little butter. Then put in the oven for 4-5 minutes until fully melted. Repeat with the second batch of chicken.

Top with a little more Parmesan and basil if there is not some in your sauce.

Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Sauce

If you have a garden or have a neighbor, friend, or family member with a garden I’m sure you will see an abundance of tomatoes over the next few weeks. Here is a simple way to make homemade sauce. I will also share tasty meals to use up the sauce. I made a small batch but if you have more tomatoes by all means double the recipe.

I used a combination of roma, slicer, and heirloom tomatoes.

6 large tomatoes- quarter large ones and half small ones

EVOO

S&P

1/4 of an onion or 1 shallot bulb

2 small cloves of garlic or 1 large clove

Small palm full of dried oregano and parsley

1 small palm full of sugar

Fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400

Add the cut tomatoes to a large bowl and drizzle with evoo and sprinkle with S&P. Toss them so evenly covered. Put them on 2 foil rimmed baking sheets and cook for 1 hour.

Allow them to cool and return to the same bowl. Purée with an immersion blender or in a food processor.

Place sauce in a high rimmed pot or pan. Then grate the onion/shallot into the sauce using a hand grater. Do the same with the garlic. I prefer this over using a diced onions and garlic as I like my sauce smooth. If you don’t have a hand grater then add them finely diced.

Next add the oregano, parsley, sugar and a little more S&P. Cook for 15 minutes on low to medium heat. Remove from heat and add fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Vegetables cream cheese dip

My friend brought a big batch of this to the lake this past weekend and my husband ate practically the whole container and I only got a little so I made more.

All Aldi ingredients!

1 package of softened cream cheese

1 package of ranch dressing mix

1 orange or red pepper- diced

3 jalapeños seeded and diced

A small can of diced olives

1/2 cup of corn

Mix all ingredients and serve with wheat thins.

Enjoy!